Cr-substituted LiCoPO4 core with a conductive carbon layer towards high-voltage lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Electrical and ionic conductivity are two major limiting factors for LiCoPO4 cathode material. To overcome these shortcomings, a Cr-substituted LiCoPO4 core with a conductive carbon layer cathode material is synthesized using the sol-gel method. The physical chemistry properties of these materials are systematically investigated by using various characterization methods. For instance, the XRD and Rietveld refinement results reveal that Cr successfully substitutes the Co within the LiCoPO4 core to form LiCo1-1.5xCrxPO4/C (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06) without changing the olivine structure but exhibits a decrease in the unit cell volume with increasing Cr substitution. SEM and TEM images indicate that Cr substitution does not lead to changes in the basic morphology of LiCo1-1.5xCrxPO4/C (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06) material, which is composed of agglomerated nanoparticles with an 8nm carbon layer on the surface. The EDS and XPS results confirm that Cr is uniformly distributed on the surface and that the oxidation state of Cr is +3. FTIR spectra indicate that the antisite defect concentration decreases with increasing Cr substitution. Furthermore, Cr substitution significantly improves the electrochemical performances of LiCo1-1.5xCrxPO4/C (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06) cathode. Notably, the LiCo0.94Cr0.04PO4/C delivers an initial discharge capacity of 144mAhg−1 at 0.1C and shows a capacity retention of 71% after 100 cycles between 3.0 and 5.0V. The CV and EIS results indicate that the polarization is reduced and that the electronic and ionic conductivities are improved by Cr substitution. The good electrochemical performances for Cr-substituted LiCoPO4/C electrodes are attributed to the lower antisite defect concentration, as the reduction of polarization, the improvement of electronic and ion conductivity and the uniform carbon layer. These features will accelerate the commercial application of LiCoPO4 towards the start-art of the high voltage lithium-ion batteries.